The Deep Ocean

The deep ocean; a place so different filled with strange life-forms. But what’s down there? How much do we know about it? As it turns out, not very much.

95% of the ocean remains unexplored. Most of which is considered the deep ocean. But what exactly is the deep ocean? The first 200 meters of the ocean are the open ocean. Much of the marine life we know lives here where there is light. Below 200 meters where there is little light left, you enter the twilight zone. Once you pass 1000 meters, the water is completely devoid of light and you have reached the deep ocean.

Down here temperatures plummet to 39 degrees Fahrenheit and constantly stay near freezing. The pressures at these depths range from about forty to over a hundred and ten times the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere. But how could anything thrive in these conditions? It was originally thought that life cannot survive without light. We now know that despite this lack of light, many creatures can live in this extreme place, such as microorganisms in hydrothermal vents, deep sea corals, fish and many other bizarre creatures.

Exploring the deep ocean is challenging because of the harsh conditions but marine scientists are on a mission to document new species in this unusual place.